As a method for forming a raw cover (green tire) for a pneumatic tire or its rubber member, a strip winding method is known. As shown in FIG. 9, in the strip winding method, rubber continuously extruded from a rubber extruder (a) is rolled by calender rollers (b). Thereby, a tape-like unvulcanized rubber strip (c) is formed. The rubber strip (c) is supplied to a rubber applicator (f), for example via a festoon (e). The rubber applicator (f) overlap-winds the rubber strip (c) continuously on a winding-around body (g), e.g. a cylindrical former or the like. Thereby, on the outside of the winding-around body (g), an annular rubber member (for example, a tread rubber or a sidewall rubber) is formed.
In the strip winding method, by changing a winding pitch of the rubber strip (c), it is possible to manufacture rubber members having various cross-sectional shapes. Therefore, the strip winding method has high versatility. The strip winding method does not need any stock of rubber members, and it can improve the productivity.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-43908
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-82277